Despite 787, Wall Street loved Boeing in 2013

The Boeing Co. has invented an anti-gravity device, and it’s called a share of stock.

In 2013, shares rose in value a whopping 77.1 percent — despite a year half-full of bad news.

A year ago, it didn’t seem as if things could get worse for the 787 program, and yet it did. In January, just a few months after entering service, Dreamliners were grounded for 100 days after two high-profile thermal events involving the lithium-ion battery system. And in the summer, another fire, unrelated to the battery system, severely damaged a 787 parked in London. (Boeing is still discretely repairing that plane, by the way.)

And yet the company’s stock steadily climbed. In fact, Boeing was the best-performing stock last year in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. That’s saying something, because the overall market logged its best gain since 1997. The Dow Jones average of which Boeing is part was up 26.5 percent in 2013.

So what about all the bad headlines? Wall Street seemed confident that Boeing could solve the 787 problems, and it couldn’t ignore some impressive metrics:

The company has a backlog of 5,080 unfilled orders worth more than $415 billion, including 3,456 for the soon-to-be-refreshed 737.

Feb. 19, 2013: In a vote, engineer members of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) approve a Boeing contract offer, but technical workers reject theirs. In all, the union represents 22,950 workers.

March 15, 2013: Boeing explains how it will redesign the lithium-ion battery system on the 787. Planes remain grounded.

March 18, 2013: SPEEA technical workers vote to accept the original contract offer after Boeing declined to negotiate further. Boeing increases 737 production in Renton from 35 to 38 airplanes per month.

Oct. 30, 2013: Boeing announces that it will disperse engineering work for the 777X to six cities, omitting Everett and saying that “no decisions have been made about 777X design or build in Puget Sound.”